Hastings students "carry on regardless" with online show

A group of students at East Sussex College Hastings has gone online with their university photography exhibition – a legacy of the global pandemic.
Carry On RegardlessCarry On Regardless
Carry On Regardless

Jess Wilmshurst, a second-year photography student at University of Brighton, explains: “For one of our group projects, we have to create an exhibition. However due to the current situation, we aren’t allowed to have one in a public space. Therefore we have made the decision to have an online exhibition.”

Under the title Carry on Regardless, it is a collaboration between Jess and Sophie De-Roe, Claire Symes, Craig Penfold and Imogen Sands and will remain online for a year.

The course requires them to curate and execute a group show to exhibit work created for their professional portfolio for their final unit in year two: “Under normal circumstances, this would be a physical exhibition, a group show at a venue with a preview event and then left open for the public for several days or weeks after the launch night. In light of the recent events surrounding the outbreak of Covid-19 and the ensuing country-wide lockdown in the UK, the group decided to Carry On Regardless.

“Thus the website was born; an online space where the work created could be shown and assessed. It will serve as a legacy to not only the show, but the global pandemic which resulted in the online exhibition and the students’ work ethic to continue on in the face of extremely challenging working conditions.”

You can see the results at http://carryonregardless.org.

Sophie started out in event and PR photography more than ten years ago. She launched her independent brand Sophie De-Roe Photography four years ago with an initial view to working with couples on their wedding day. Sophie decided to complete her bachelors degree in photography and use the online space to display some of her developing personal projects. She is thinking of pursuing a career in underwater photography as she is a qualified swimming teacher and would like to find a way to combine her passions.

Jess is a student photographer with five years’ experience, studying photography from GCSE, A Level and now at degree level. Photography for Jess is about capturing a moment in time that can never be replayed and using it to express a message – whether it is to express your feeling of the world or to address a certain issue within society.

Jess is most interested in portraiture and using emotion to create an image. However she has also experience with landscapes and still life photograph. Jess has always been interested in owning her own business, in particular a magazine company.

Claire is currently working hard towards her photography degree. Her love for photography started when she had her own children 17 years ago. Since then she has built up her social media sharing her journey, hoping to build herself a successful business in doing so. Currently researching the work of Sally Mann, Claire has a particular interest in black and white documentary and story-telling photography. She also enjoys photographing using natural settings like the beach, paying particular interest to the beauty that natural lighting has to offer.

Imogen’s interest in photography was sparked by the activities programme at her boarding school in Year 8. Now, almost a decade later, she is developing her practice as a portrait photographer. She has arrived at portraiture by way of photographing her travels (France, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Lanzarote, London, New York); studying the work of other photographers (her influencers include Bruce Fleming, David Bailey and Jason Bell); and studying the work of other artists such as Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and Tracey Emin. Her portraits are usually shot out of doors – rather than in the studio – and she prefers that her subjects do not pose in front of her camera.

“I want to capture my subjects in a natural light, going about their normal lives. My images are genuine, not staged.”

Photography has been a passion of Craig’s for 30 years. He left school at 16 and has decided to come back to school to finally study for subject that he cares about, he says. All kinds of photography sparks Craig’s interest. Craig enjoys wildlife and landscape photography.

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